Install Free Service Packs in Win NT

Installing Free Service Packs in Win NT.

June 14, 2001 12:00AM EST

June 14, 2001

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Service Packs are like pseudo-upgrades. They provide collections of new features, components, protocols, etc. from Microsoft. Always back up your system before you install a service pack, as you may find it difficult to install Service Packs. They are cumulative, so if you download Service Pack 3, you get all of what was offered in Service Pack 2; so make sure you get the most current version. If you're installing NT 4.0 for the first time, or upgrading to NT 4.0 from another operating system, install Service Pack 3 (SP3) immediately. You can download it for free from the Microsoft Web site. Install SP3; then install all of your applications; then install SP3 yet again. This extra work will prevent other problems down the road. If you've been using NT 4.0 for a while, there may be some special problems associated with SP3. Microsoft recommends that you install all of your applications, then install SP3. But some applications rely on older versions of services and DLLs that SP3 may update, change or remove. So, if you discover that an application no longer functions after you install SP3, you'll need to contact that software's vendor to figure out a workaround. Fortunately, over 90 percent of software built for NT will work with SP3 with no problems.